1. Reported Stateless Persons
Based on statistics reported to UNHCR, Southeast Asia as a sub-region hosts the largest number of persons affected by statelessness, collectively reporting over 1.4 million stateless persons. All countries apart from Laos and Timor-Leste have reported figures on stateless persons in 2022 to UNHCR.
Most identified stateless populations within Southeast Asia consists of in situ ethnic minority groups who have experienced protracted and intergenerational statelessness. Myanmar has the largest reported stateless population, reporting 630,000 stateless persons to UNHCR in 2022. UNHCR notes that the figure of 630,000 persons represents the estimate of UNHCR of the number of stateless Rohingyas both in Rakhine state and those that are internally displaced.
Ethnic minority groups in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam also face protracted and intergenerational statelessness. With the largest of these populations including 574,219 people in Thailand (largely comprised of members of the ‘Hill Tribe’ communities), 75,000 persons of Vietnamese ethnicity in Cambodia, a population of 26,811 people in Viet Nam (including members of the Hmong community and people of Cambodian heritage) and over 20,000 persons of Chinese heritage in Brunei. The entirety of this reported population in Indonesia consists of stateless Rohingya refugees. UNHCR also noted that there is a potentially large number of unreported non-displaced stateless persons in Indonesia which there is currently no reliable data on. Further, there is a lack of recent reliable statistics on the stateless population in Brunei, which has no available data on stateless persons without formalized residency.
| Country | 2019 (year start) | 2020 (year end) | 2021 (year end) | 2022 (year end) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brunei Darussalam | 20,863 | 20,863 | 20,863 | 20,863 |
| Cambodia | 57,444 | 57,444 | 75,000 | 75,000 |
| Indonesia | 582 | 874 | 641 | 925 |
| Lao People’s Democratic Republic | – | – | – | – |
| Malaysia | 108,332 | 111,289 | 112,420 | 115,169 |
| Myanmar | 600,000 | 600,000 | 600,000 | 630,000 |
| Philippines | 383 | 387 | 260 | 267 |
| Singapore | 1,303 | 1,109 | 1,109 | 1,109 |
| Thailand | 475,009 | 480,695 | 561,527 | 574,219 |
| Timor-Leste | – | – | – | – |
| Vietnam | 30,581 | 32,890 | 35,475 | 26,811 |
| TOTALS | 1,294,497 | 1,305,551 | 1,407,295 | 1,444,363 |
Source: UNHCR, Global Trends: Forced Displacement from 2019-2022
2. Persons at Risk of Statelessness
Overall, higher rates of civil registration (compared to the Pacific) and less reliance on household registrations (compared to East Asia) should lead to a lower number of persons seen to be at risk of statelessness within Southeast Asia. However, there remains a number of identified groups who remain at risk. In Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos and Thailand low rates of birth registration among certain populations have exposed potentially millions of children to the risk of statelessness, with children of migrant workers and ethnic minorities left especially vulnerable to statelessness. Within the Philippines six population groups have been identified as being at risk of statelessness: indigenous sea-faring Sama Bajau, persons of Indonesian descent (the status of most of this population group has been resolved in recent years), foundlings, unregistered children who have been forcibly displaced due to armed conflict and persons of Japanese descent (even though most cases have now been resolved or are in the process of getting resolved). Within Malaysia multiple populations have also been identified including persons who have resided in Malaysia since pre-independence as well as their descendants (including individuals of Tamil ethnicity), children of mixed-nationality marriages (through the impact of gender discriminatory nationality laws), indigenous persons (including mobile maritime populations and Orang Asli communities), refugees and irregular migrants (and their children) in Sabah East Malaysia, as well as persons lacking documentation and foundling children.
Indonesians of Chinese Origin (due to different historical circumstances and legal complications); some Indonesians of Chinese origin; Indonesians of Indian Origin (due historical and legal reasons); Indonesian migrant workers (who confront documentation challenges or have their citizenship status questioned); exiled Indonesians (who were forced to leave Indonesia for political or other reasons face difficulties re-establishing their citizenship upon their return); and undocumented Chinese Migrants are all populations affected by statelessness in Indonesia. In Brunei, children born to a Brunei citizen mother, indigenous populations including Dusun and Iban populations , and foreign wives of citizens as at risk of statelessness.
3. Pledges to End Statelessness
At the 2023 Global Refugee Forum (GRF), the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines pledged its commitment to the “protection of stateless persons and persons at risk of statelessness in Sabah, through inter-[National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) Memoranda of Understanding (MoU)] on Statelessness”. The inter-NHRI MoU on Statelessness seeks to improve “policy and operational frameworks to ensure protection of the rights of stateless persons and persons at risk of statelessness in Sabah through cooperation between the National Human Rights Institutions of Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines”. It is also intended to enhance coordination and cooperation between the “Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, as an independent NHRI, and the Government of the Philippines in addressing issues of statelessness in Sabah with a human rights-based approach”.
Thailand also pledged to “resolve statelessness, with priority being given to children born in Thailand” as part of the 2023 GRF. The government set out its objectives for resolving statelessness as:
1. “Developing, within two years, a national action plan on the reduction of statelessness and the management of forcibly displaced persons in Thailand, with priority given to stateless children, and through collaboration between government agencies, private sector, and civil society”;
2. “Enhancing effectiveness of the systems to facilitate access by stateless persons to civil registration services, with a view to expediting the process for children born in Thailand and the elderly”;
3. “Reviewing existing laws and regulations related to nationality, civil registration and immigration, in order to facilitate access to legal residence, nationality and civic rights, particularly for children born in Thailand; as well as”
4. “Cooperating with UNHCR and joining the Global Alliance to End Statelessness”.
At the High-Level Segment on Stateless in October 2019, both the Philippines and Indonesia made pledges related to the prevention of statelessness. The Philippines committed:
- To enhance the policy, legal, and operational framework for stateless persons to ensure their full access to rights as guaranteed by the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons including their facilitated naturalization and as may be provided by national laws;
- To improve access of vulnerable and marginalized populations to documentation through birth and civil registration;
- To continue the study of statelessness, with a thrust to improve qualitative and quantitative data on populations at risk of statelessness in the Philippines and among its nationals, in continuation of efforts initiated in 2011;
- To continue the process of accession to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness;
- To continue leadership in Southeast Asia in the development of a human rights framework and provide technical support to other States in dealing with issues relating to stateless persons; and
- To cooperate with UNHCR by supporting projects, continuing fund contributions, and by building or expanding partnerships.
So far, the Philippines has been successful in ratifying the 1961 Convention on statelessness. Indonesia also pledged to:
- increase the scope of operation and the provision of infrastructure related to its national citizenship registry;
- increase the utilisation of a digital platform for citizenship registry and citizenship documentations such as the issuance of birth certificate and single identity number;
- enhance cooperation with UNHCR in handling refugees and asylum seekers , and
- to work with all countries, particularly the two Statelessness Conventions, to learn together, increase capacities, and exchange technology in addressing statelessness.
On this, significant advancements towards these goals are yet to be seen from Indonesia.
Source: Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2022
4. Stateless Refugee
Four countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand) in the region reported populations of stateless refugees to UNHCR in 2022. All of the reported stateless refugees are Rohingya from Myanmar, with Malaysia reporting the largest population (103,380), while Indonesia (925), the Philippines (11) and Thailand (321) all reported comparatively small population groups. In total, the sub-region has reported 104,637 stateless Rohingya refugees.
5. Undetermined Nationalities
In March 2022 the Chief Minister of Sabah, Malaysia announced that 810,443 residents of Sabah are non-citizens. This group represents the largest and most notable population of undetermined nationality within Southeast Asia as disagreement exists as to whether this population are stateless or should be considered citizens of either the Philippines, Malaysia or Indonesia. The citizenship status of other population groups including children of returned marriage migrants in Viet Nam and persons of Chinese, Indian and Nepali descent in Myanmar remains uncertain.
